First published in 1972, this volume shows the potency, and the limitations of Nonconformity in shaping the beginning of modern Britain. It draws upon a wide range of sources including the writings and discussions of Nonconformists themselves, their critics, and contemporary commentators. The extracts and the extensive introduction set Nonconformity in the broader context of social and political history, and address the ‘life’ of the free Churches: their conflicts, internal and externals, their organization and spread, and their theology. The collection demonstrates the variety and diversity of Nonconformity as well as the controversies and debates of the period. This book will be an excellent reference for students of History, English and Theology, and will provide a starting point for those who wish to explore Nonconformist history.

A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Britain presents 33 essaysby expert scholars on all the major aspects of the political,social, economic and cultural history of Britain during the lateGeorgian and Victorian eras. Truly British, rather than English, in scope. Pays attention to the experiences of women as well as ofmen. Illustrated with maps and charts. Includes guides to further reading.

Protestant Nonconformity, the umbrella term for Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and Unitarians, belongs specifically to the religious history of England and Wales. Initially the result of both unwillingness to submit to the State's interference in Christian life and a dissatisfaction with the progress of reform in the English Church, Nonconformity has been primarily motivated by theological concern, ecclesial polity, devotion and the nurture of godliness among the members of the church. Alongside such churchly interests, Nonconformity has also made a profound contribution to debates about the role of the State, to family life and education, culture in general, trade and industry, the development of philanthropy and charity, and the development of pacifism. In this volume, for the first time, Nonconformity and the breadth of its activity come under the expert scrutiny of a host of recognised scholars. The result is a detailed and fascinating account of a movement in church history that, while currently in decline, has made an indelible mark on social, political, economic and religious life of the two nations.

This is a pioneering study of philosophy in the English and Welsh Dissenting academies and Nonconformist theological colleges from the Toleration Act of 1689 to 1920. The author discusses the place of philosophy in the curriculum and the philosophical works published by tutors, professors, and alumni, among them Isaac Watts, Henry Grove, Richard Price, James Martineau, and Robert Mackintosh. It is shown that particular attention was paid to natural theology, moral philosophy, and apologetics, and some of the ideas propounded are of continuing interest. This important book will interest historians of philosophy, of the Church, and of education.

Ranging from the nineteenth-century to the present, this book explores several central aspects of the ways in which the English-language poetry and fiction of Wales has responded to what was, for a crucial period of a century or so, the dominant culture of Wales: the culture of Welsh Nonconformity. In the introduction, the author reflects on why no sustained attempt has hitherto been made to investigate one of the formative cultural influences on modern 'Anglo-Welsh' literature, the Nonconformist inheritance. The importance of addressing this strange and significant cultural deficit is then explained, and a preliminary attempt made to capture something of the spirit of Welsh Nonconformity. The succeeding chapters address and seek to answer such questions as: What exactly did the Welsh chapels believe and do? Why have the English-language writers of Wales, from Caradoc Evans and Dylan Thomas to R.S. Thomas and the authors of today, been so fascinated by them? How accurate are the impressions we've been given of chapel life and chapel people in the English-language poetry and fiction of Wales? The answers offered may alter our views both of the Welsh Nonconformist past and of Welsh writing in English. One of the ideas advanced is that many of Wales' most important writers went to war with the preachers in their texts, and that their work is therefore the site of cultural struggle. Theirs was a war in words waged to determine who would have the last word on modern Welsh experience.